A J-11 fighter jet attached to an aviation brigade of the air force under the PLA Western Theater Command. (Photo courtesy: China Military Online)

(TibetanReview.net, Feb22, 2018) – Citing the need to confront threat from India, China said Feb 20 that it was upgrading its Western Theater Command, with its official military website posting four high resolution images of military aircraft involved in military training activities over the Tibetan plateau.

The pictures posted on the English version of the PLA website show a J-10 fighter jet and J-11 fighter jets conducting aerial combat training exercises over the Tibetan plateau on Feb 13, two days before Spring Festival, reported the official globaltimes.cnFeb 20.

The report noted that the Western Theater Command was mainly responsible for mountain warfare at the border area with India. “It is significant for China to strengthen control of airspace over the mountainous region,” Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, was quoted as saying.

“Strengthening the 3.5-generation fighter jets or even stationing more advanced fighters in the Western Theatre Command has been urgent for the PLA,” Song was quoted as saying. He has noted that such upgrades had been usually first conducted in south and east theatre commands.

“Considering that India possesses 3rd-generation fighter jets, China’s stationing of its 3.5-generation jets would be able to deal with any current threat from India,” Song has said.

“With India importing new jets, China will continue strengthening its fighter jets in the Western Theatre Command,” Song has added.

The report said that during this year’s week-long Spring Festival holiday, beginning Feb 16, the PLA had not stopped training.